Family affair
Oklahoma-rooted trio Cherokee Maidens is releasing new album
Trio Cherokee Maidens are releasing a new album ‘My Dixie Darling’ with new lineup.
It’s no coincidence that the title track of the Cherokee Maidens’ new album “My Dixie Darling” is an old tune from the legendary Carter Family.
“It’s a family thing we’ve got going on here now. It’s truly a family thing,” said red dirt chanteuse Monica Taylor, one third of the interstate Western swing trio.
For the past five years, Taylor, who is based in Perkins, and Dixie Chicks co-founder Robin Macy, who lives in Kansas, have been channeling the likes of Bob Willis’ backing singers the McKinney Sisters with the Cherokee Maidens, alongside fellow Kansas crooner Jennifer Pettersen.
“Jennifer got married, and as it happens —things like this happen —they had the most beautiful little girl. … And we are so happy for her. But it turned out that we had to make a decision: We either had to find somebody who was the right person to take her place in the group, or we couldn’t sing our songs anymore. It’s just one of those deals,” Taylor said. “One door closes and a beautiful window opens, and here comes Sis.”
Tri-state trio
As it turns out, that’s not just a folksy nickname: Lauren “Sis” White is Macy’s sister-in-law. Kentucky “Kenny” White, Macy’s husband and White’s brother, leads the Maidens’ backing band, Sycamore Swing.
“She and Kentucky had a bluegrass band when they were young, and then they each joined many different touring bluegrass bands over the years. Actually, the one she has in Kentucky just split, just decided everybody take a break and do different things. And it worked out perfect for us,” Taylor said.
The singers aren’t letting the distance get in their way of making beautiful music with their new bandmate, even if Lauren White’s Louisville, Kentucky, residency makes the Cherokee Maidens a tri-state trio. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Andwe work harder now when we’re together to get many shows in a row,” Taylor said. “She’s back home, and (during the holidays) we practiced around their mom’s kitchen table. She fed us like three meals. I don’t think we left the kitchen table, literally, this one whole day. We practiced all these songs that she memorized: not just words but the vocal parts. And then we worked on all these new songs. So, it’s pretty cool.”
Old songs
Apart from a couple of new original tunes, “My Dixie Darling” mostly showcases songs from the 1920s to ‘40s with an occasional cut from the ‘50s, ‘70s and ‘90s.
“We all have those old-time songs in our blood,” Taylor said. “We decided first off we would look for Cindy Walker tunes. You know, she’s kind of our muse; she wrote ‘Cherokee Maiden.’ … We were going to Louisville after Christmas, and we started looking at songs. And we found this one called ‘It’s All Your Fault,’ an old, old song.
“But it only had one verse, so Robin and I wrote that whole second verse —like we have a habit of doing —between Springfield and St. Louis,” she added with a laugh. “We texted it to Lauren, and she typed it up. And she took a picture and she said, ‘OK, I’m ready for you when you get here.’ We got there, and it was like ‘Oh my God.’ It was so much fun. We all fell into our places, into our vocal parts. … That’s when you know it’s the right person. That’s when you know.”
She praised Macy for having a knack for unearthing songs that are hidden old gems and urging the trio to make them shine again. “I’ll be like ‘Are you serious? Do you think we can do that?’ Like on ‘Avalon,’ all the scatting. She goes, ‘Monica, I am so excited about this. I believe we can do it, and this is something that people don’t hear.’ She’s so creative in that way. … She knows us well enough, and she can figure it out. ‘Here’s a song, let’s try this,’ and then we all work really hard,” said Taylor, who also performs as a solo artist and with other bands, along with hosting the Cimarron Breeze Concerts in her hometown.
Ray Benson, of the Grammywinning band Asleep at the Wheel, joined the Maidens on 1951’s “Rock City Boogie,” a classic cut from Tennessee Ernie Ford and The Dinning Sisters.
“Man, he’s awesome. He and Robin go way back. When she had the Dixie Chicks, they shared a lot of shows, a lot of festivals, and shared the stage many different times,” Taylor said. “The song was just perfect for him. I mean, he’s got that fun-loving music spirit, just like Tennessee Ernie Ford.”
Along with Kentucky White, the backing band includes members of the well-regarded Eicher family — Nathan on bass, Isaac on mandolin, and their father, Shelby, on fiddle — plus Steve Bagsby on steel guitar and Brandon Blackburn on drums.
“The guys in the band are the tops. So we feel very blessed that they’ve hung in there with us. Shelby Eicher and Kenny just can work on arrangements like nobody’s business. The arrangements on this new album are stunning; there are some things that I heard I just couldn’t believe the intricacy. And they’ll be able to play those. They’ll be able to play those parts, I have no doubt,” Taylor said.
Enlightening moments
Accompanied by Sycamore Swing, the trio is playing a quartet of release shows to herald its third album, including a concert Saturday at Oklahoma City’s Blue Door and a Thursday SummerStage show at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.
“There’s many songs that we’ve recorded and that we perform, and people come up and say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve never heard that song before. That’s a Bob Wills song?’ ‘Yes, it is.’ Or, ‘I remember hearing that song.’ And then they tell you a story about where they heard it, maybe Grandpa playing it on the radio —or on the fiddle in the living room,” Taylor said.
“You hear great stories about songs, and if they’re really good songs, then they catch people’s attention. I love to enlighten people —and I’ve been enlightened when I hear songs, maybe for the first time, and then I just fall in love with them, but they’re 60 years old.”
Hearing those family stories feels even more appropriate now that the Cherokee Maidens are even more a family, she said.
“Robin’s always been like a sister to me, and Kenny, of course, like a brother. … Now Sis, she’s our Dixie Darling. She came and she stepped in and said, ‘I’m here to lend my voice and my time and my love to this Cherokee Maidens thing,’” Taylor said. “I feel like, ‘Golly, howdid this happen?’ You know, one thing looks so bleak, and then the next minute you’re just in love with this person.”